Woman awarded €55k damages after Tesco yoghurt fall

A Dublin woman who suffers ongoing shoulder pain and can no longer lift her grandchildren since she slipped and fell on yoghurt in a Tesco has been awarded €55,000 damages in the Circuit Civil Court.

Dee Kenny (59) told the court that in April 2012 she had been shopping in Tesco, Ballybrack, Co Dublin, when she slipped on yoghurt and fell. Kenny said she suffered immediate pain in her right hand and hip. She had been shocked and embarrassed and had been helped getting up by her son and a customer.

She had gone home after talking to a Tesco duty manager.

She told her barrister, Kieran O'Callaghan, that her hand and hip had been very sore the following day and she had gone to St Columcille's Hospital in Loughlinstown, Co Dublin.

The court heard that X-rays revealed no fracture. Kenny, of Watson Drive, Killiney, had suffered bruising to her hip and a sprain to her right thumb.

Tear

She said she developed pain in her right shoulder a few weeks later. After further medical examinations, an ultrasound revealed she suffered a tear to her shoulder rotator cuff. The court heard the accident had exacerbated a pre-existing degenerative condition in her shoulder.

Kenny told Judge Francis Comerford that she had given up her job as a laundry operative because of ongoing pain. The court heard that she underwent surgery last year.

She said she was attending physiotherapy sessions and her pain was expected to improve. She said her life had been affected by her injury, as she could not lift her grandchildren and had to give up swimming.

Mr O'Callaghan said the store accepted the accident had happened and Ms Kenny's case had become an assessment of damages only. The store claimed that Kenny's shoulder injury was due to the degenerative condition and not the accident.

Judge Comerford, awarding Kenny €55,000 damages, said he was satisfied her shoulder pain had developed after her fall.